Venting
by thehappypursuit-182
Summary: Explores Courtney and Trent, as they vent about their relationships during Total Drama Action.
1. Target Practice

Sigh...I have no idea how to even explain this to myself. This fic started when I realised the lack of CourtneyxTrent. Then I figured out that maybe the reason there isn't too many, because Duncan and Courtney have always made sense to me in my mind. I knew from episode one, part one that Duncan and Courtney would hook up. Why? Opposites attract, law of science, proven by one too many romance novels.

So if CourtneyxDuncan makes complete sense to me, why am I writing a TrentxCourtney fic? It's because this isn't really a TrentxCourtney fic, at least, not in a romantic sense. It kind of explores them as they vent in their own ways while they deal with their estranged relationships.

Disclaimer: I do not Total Drama Island/Action. If I did, the hopefully the second season wouldn't have been so crappy.

* * *

**+Trent's POV-**

I walk away hurriedly from the set of Total Drama Action/The Aftermath.

I can hear Gwen calling my name. "Trent!"

I turn around and see her running towards me. "What?" I snap.

"I just want to tell you I'm sorry." She says, scuffing her shoe on the floor.

"Why?" I ask. She stares at me blankly. "Are you sorry?"

She shrugs. "Because I feel you being voted off was my fault... and because I dumped you on national television." Global television, actually.

"The first one doesn't matter to me." I say. "Nor does the last one."

She blinks, and looks taken aback. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at _you_? The girl who said we would never let anything or anyone get between us?" I shout at her.

"Is this about Duncan?" She asks. "I told you, he's just a friend!"

"Tell Courtney that." I say. "For the record, I don't care if you're friends or lovers with Duncan. I don't care anymore because I'm done! I'm done with this show, with the drama, with you."

She frowns. "So where does that leave us?"

Before I can stop myself I laugh. "_Us_? There is no _us_ anymore." I walk away, leaving her to stand there alone.

I don't feel sorry at all. Payback's a bitch.

**-Courtney+**

I hear the knock on my door and know immediately who it is. Who else would knock nine times?

I get up and answer the door. "You know, you really have to stop with this 'Number Nine' gimmick."

"It's not a gimmick. My grandfather-"

"Bullshit." I tell him. "You didn't have this obsession when we were on Total Drama Island, and if your grandfather died right before the wheel fell off, wouldn't it be your unlucky number?"

He sighs. "Fine. There's no train."

"Yes there is!" I say. "Gwen and Trent's Train of LOVE!"

"That train has officially derailed its self." He says, throwing himself onto _my_ bed.

"Bullshit." I tell him again.

"I bullshit you not." He says, sighing.

"Why do you always talk you're in an old romance novel?" I ask him.

"I don't know." He says. "Why do you always act like you don't give a damn?"

I shrug. "Duncan must have rubbed off on me, just like Gwen must've on you."

"But Gwen doesn't like romance novels!" He protests.

I shrug again. "Maybe you're just fruity."

"Fruity?" He asks.

"You know, fruity-" I say, getting no where. "An example of fruityness would be when Noah kissed Cody during that one challenge."

He glares at me. "I am _not_ fruity."

"Why are you here?" I ask him, suddenly.

"What? Can't a guy hang out with his best friend?" It's true. Lately we have gotten a lot closer than usual. Mostly because he needed someone to vent about Gwen that wasn't a guy, and I needed someone to vent about Duncan with.

"Of course you can hang out with me," I say, "but you have that I-need-to-tell-you-something look." I pause. "Ohmigod you're breaking up with me!" I say, just to piss him off.

It works. He glares at me and says, "Gwen told me to tell you that nothing ever happened between her and Duncan."

My stomach flips uneasily, but I shake it off. "I see she _still_ has you whipped." I say, making a cracking noise. "No, seriously, why couldn't she tell me herself?"

"She probably thought you were mad at her." I stare at him questioningly. "You _did_ storm off set."

"I was mostly mad at Geoff, he's turning into a real asshole, but I guess I was a little mad at Gwen." I finish, embarrassed.

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly happy with her either." He says.

I roll my eyes. "Oh come on! You guys will be back together in no time."

He shrugs indifferently. "I couldn't care less." He says, laid back on my bed and staring at the ceiling.

"Yes, you care." I say. "That reminds me, I have something to show you."

**+Trent-**

She gets her laptop and then sits down beside me. She searches up a couple of things and then shows me the screen. "Look at this."

I stare at a screen that's made of a lot of text and a few links. "Yeah, so?"

She scoffs, and presses on one of the links. "Welcome to the Total Drama Island fanfiction page."

"Fanfiction?" I ask. "We're on a_ reality_ show, why would we have a fan_fiction_ page?"

She shrugs. "Someone screwed up and put us under cartoons." She points to the screen. "See that number?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

"That's how many fics have been written for our fandom." She says.

I gape. "More than 2000?" I ask in disbelief.

She nods. "Now here's what I really wanted to show you." She presses the link and suddenly we're staring at tons of stories. "See this?" She says.

"Yes..."

"That's a GwenXTrent fic." She says. She opens it and skims it. "Aww... you guys got married!"

I stare at the screen. "People write about my love life?"

"Yep!" She says, clicking on another story. "Isn't it great? Oh... in this one you die."

I groan. "But," she continues, "Gwen commits suicide to be with you again."

"How many of these are there?" I ask, rubbing my temples.

"A couple hundred." She says. "Oh, in this one you have seven kids and live happily ever after." She paused. "Scratch that. Next chapter your house blows up and you die. But I come to the funeral." She says.

I shrug. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. I take the laptop from her. "What about this one?" I say, clicking on it.

"I don't know," she says, frowning, "I haven't read it yet."

I read it and feel myself getting tense. "Fuck it!" I yell.

She reads it and I see her face fall. "I didn't know," she says, her voice quivering, "I didn't know they made GwenxDuncan-" She jumps up. "Those bastards." She growls.

"Don't they-" I whisper, "don't they ever wonder how we feel about this?"

She shakes her head. "They probably don't care." She softens a bit. "For all we know they could've just watched the second season and not known..."

"Or they could just be jerks who don't give a damn about us." I snarl.

She's actually crying now as she sinks down onto her bed. "Or maybe they're right." She says.

"What?" I ask, whipping myself around.

"Think about it," she says, "in a perfect world Gwen would've stepped off the boat and not smiled at you. Duncan would've came and they would've gotten together. The only thing that stopped them was you." She says. "Duncan would've gone after her."

"Then," I counter, "I probably would've gone for _you_ in this 'Perfect World'."

We both stop because it's such a weird realisation.

"Then again," I say, "the world is not perfect."

"Perfectly fucked up maybe." She says, giggling. "Pretend that never happened?"

"Pretend what never happened?" I ask teasingly.

She laughs again. "You know what would make us feel better?" She asks.

"What?" I ask. "Found Chris's alcohol?"

She rolls her eyes. She may be more loose, but she wouldn't break a rule like that one. "No..." She says, digging through her luggage. "Here it is!" She says, holding up a ziplock baggie. "Want to shoot some underwear out the window at the interns?"

I stare at her. "Where do you get all that?"

"When laundry day comes around I steal some of the clean stuff." She says shrugging. "Okay here, we'll start you off with this size. Must be Cody's, seems pretty small." She says, holding it up.

I snatch it away from her. "That's mine, thank you." I say, blushing.

She laughs. "I know, I saw your name on the label. I'm just kidding. I'm sure you have a perfectly normal size of underwear." She says, laughing at the situation.

"Why?" I ask. "You comparing it to Duncan's?"

That shuts her up real quick. "It's like a slingshot," she explains, "hold each side of the hem with your thumb and pointer, pull it back, and shoot!" She says, letting it go and hitting an intern in the face. "Oh yeah," she says, "must important rule. Duck!" She says pulling me to the the ground with her.

I laugh. "Let me try!"

I get ready to shoot when she hands me a pair of scissors. "Hold on, kiddo. You might want to cut your name out first."

I cut it out and get ready to shoot. "Okay..." she says, "Now!" I shoot and we duck. "Who'd I hit?"

She peers over the window ledge. "Geoff." She says. "Ten points!"

We continue for a while, until we're tied with an even eighty. I shoot my last time and duck. "Who'd I get?"

She starts laughing. "Jackpot! You, my friend, just hit Chris Maclean!"

* * *

I'm sorry if the characters, well the small amount used, seemed out of character.

Sorry if I offended any GwenxDuncan fans, but seriously, how do think Courtney and Trent would like it?

Should I continue, or leave it a one-shot?

-Pursuit


	2. xoxo, Gossip Girl

Since I think the first chapter was generally well received... I'm writing another one! Whoo! Whoo?

Anyways, kidding aside, here's the next chapter.

Sorry, if at any time, it sounds like I'm hating on Gwen or Duncan. I just try to write what Courtney or Trent would feel/say in certain instances.

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama Island/Action, because if I did there so would have been a DuncanxCourtneyxTrent love triangle. Yeah, I know, I'm weird.

* * *

**-Courtney+**

Chris walks in, we're rolling on the floor, and we're also hysterically laughing. He clears his throat. "Ahem!"

We both turn and look at him, and it's enough to make us start laughing again, because he still has a pair of underwear around his neck. "Um, Chris," I say, pulling myself up so I'm sitting cross-legged, "you have a little, um, something on your neck." I say, gesturing at my neck.

He glares. "I know. Some stupid kids got me-" He notices for the first time the wads of underwear at our feet. "You!" He says.

Trent shrugs and pull himself up to sitting position. "Look man-"

Chris glares. "Don't _'Look man' _me! I am Chris Maclean! I will not be made fun of!" He says, whipping the underwear off his neck and onto the ground.

"Chris," I say, winking at Trent, "you really need to take a chill pill!"

Trent laughs so hard he's rolling on the floor. I'm slightly more composed, I can still sit while laughing.

Chris sighs and crosses his arms. "While, I'd _love_ to stay here and chat about fond memories, I'm here strictly for business. Courtney, we need to talk."

I shakily stand up, leaning on Trent for support. "Sure, Boss Man."

Chris rolls his eyes and gestures for me to follow him. I wave bye to Trent, who waves back, and then he pulls up my laptop. Jesus, what's he going to do? Bash a whole bunch of GwenXDuncan shippers? Get over it, already.

Chris leads me through the "Restricted" area of set, which consists of storage, offices and the sets where the contestants do the indoor challenges. I look around in awe. Except for glimpses of the sets (we're forced to watch the latest episodes of TDA) I've never seen the whole thing. I look at the surfboard machine, and while busy with this, I manage to trip over the seagull-shooter and it starts firing.

Chris sighs and helps me up. "And they wonder why they're not allowed back here..." He mutters, mostly to himself.

He practically drags me the rest of the way, screaming at me when I'm within two feet of something, until we're in front of some office-looking thing. "Chris? What am I doing here?"

He motions me in, sitting at the desk, shuffling papers around. I hesitantly sit down on the chair facing the desk.

"So Courtney...." he says, "I hear you want back on the show?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah right. C'mon Chris, you know I dropped those charges."

"Yes..." Chris says, stroking his goatee. "Right about the time you started hanging out with Trent." He concludes, smirking.

"It's not like that." I fume.

"Then what is it like?" He taunts.

I sigh. "Chris, we both agree that after Ezekiel and Eva I had the least friends here. After what had happened with Gwen, Trent didn't have much friends either, only haters or fangirls. We both needed a friend. It just...happened."

Chris sighs. "That's so sweet. Too bad I don't care about sweet. What I care about is getting you back on the show."

"What?" I shriek. "Isn't that a little too late? I don't even want to be on that show anymore!"

He rolls his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, what you want means very little to me, it's about what _I _want."

I sputter for a bit. "But-but-but you can't do that!"

"Contract, anyone?" He smirks, holding up a certain 372 page document I've come to know and loathe. "You have to do it."

I glare at him. "Can Trent at least-"

Chris smirks. "While that would definitely help exploit this weird love circle that you fools have made so popular, unfortunately, Trent's already run his course."

"Then bring him back, goddammit! You're bringing me back!" I scream.

"Technically, we aren't bringing you _back_ if you we never there to begin with." He said. "No use, Courtney. The decision's final."

I fume as I let myself out. How dare he? I'm so pissed off I have a diva moment and yell at a few of the crew who have gathered at my screaming. I walk down the hall muttering to myself.

"Stop! You can't go in there! Get back here, Maggot!" I hear Chef scream.

I look up for a second only to get pushed down. "Hey!" I exclaim as I fall, but it's no use. My attackers already gone in a flash of green and black. "JERK!" I shout in the direction they left.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but the whole time I'm walking back to my side of the set, I feel like someones watching me.

**+Trent's POV-**

Courtney enters just as I'm putting her laptop away. She flounces down on her bed, so she's facing me sitting at her desk chair. She smirks. "GwenxDuncan bashing?"

"No..." I said, sheepishly. "DuncanxCourtney shipping."

"What?" She shrieks, pulling the laptop away from me. She reads for a bit. "It's really, really good." She replies, sheepishly. "What's it called?"

"It's called Playboy's Exception by SilenceStruck." I reply. "It sort of reminded of Gossip Girl."

She smiles. "I totally forgot about your obsession with Gossip Girl." She pauses, and goes to the next chapter. By the end, she's in stitches. "Ha! Duncan tries to seduce me... and fails! I love this story. Tell it like it is, sista!" She cheers. "Except that this Courtney is way better at getting guys."

"Including me." I say.

She pauses. "What?"

I sigh, pointing at the top part of the chapter. "I'm your boyfriend, I suppose." I mutter, in a Chuck Bass-sort of voice.

She scoffs. "Trent, Hun, you're more of a Nate. Clueless, a flirt, cute and rich." She says. "Don't even try to protest the fact that you're rich, Trent. Most kids don't have more than one million in savings alone."

I roll my eyes. "Well, which character are you then?"

She smirks. "Honey, do you even _have _to ask? I'm Blair Waldorf, of course." She says, flipping the laptop down. "Controlling, manipulative, bitchy and catty."

"Uh oh," I mutter. "This isn't good. You only make fun of yourself when you're depressed. What's up?"

"Nothing. Did I tell you someone was watching me while I was walking back from my meeting with Chris?" She says, desperately trying to change the subject.

I roll my eyes, sitting down beside her on the bed. "What's up?"

She smiles shakily at me. "I'm back on the show."

"What?" I exclaim, jumping up. When she looks like she's about to cry as I sit back down.

"I know, right?" She says, wiping away a few tears.

I wrap my arm around her, I don't even have to think about, it's like an instinct. "I can't believe they're taking my best friend away from me." I say, stunned.

She sniffles a bit. "If Sadie and Katie can do it so can we."

I shake my head. "No comparison. If you hadn't suddenly made the out of character decision to befriend me, I would have slit my wrists."

She laughs shakily. "You're kidding, right?"

I shake my head. "No joke."

She pales before she jumps up, accidentally smacking me in the head. She opens the door and races down the hall.

I run after her. "Where are you going?"

"The set kitchen!" She calls back.

"Why?" I ask. Although, really in my head it's _Why me?_

"I have to hide the knives!"

I laugh, shaking my head. Only Courtney.

**-Courtney's POV+**

I have to beat Trent to the kitchen. He can't know where I'm going to hid the knives!

I crash into somebody as I'm running. "Sorry!" I exclaim, because I'm not a JERK like the person/thing that knocked me down earlier.

"It's okay." She mutters as I pull her up.

"Oh," I say monotonously, "it's _you._"

Gwen sighs. "Why do you hate me Courtney?"

I pause for a second, pretending to give it some thought. "Um, let's see... you were really rude to Trent?"

She sighs. "I told you, we're just friends!" Then _she_ pauses. "Wait, what?"

I'm about answer, when Trent sails into me, cutting me off. He tackles me to the ground, tickling me. "Jesus, Trent!" I laugh. "Stop!"

He laughs, flipping me so he's on top of me. "Oh, no! That's what you get, Ms. Blair Waldorf. Now admit I'm Chuck Bass."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. You are everything that embodies Chuck Bass. You are sexy, sophisticated, womanizing and rich. You are one fine Mother Chucker."

He leans close to my ear, whispering "And don't you forget it."

I look up from my spot on the ground at Gwen. She's definitely confused. I don't blame her. If I wasn't me and Trent wasn't himself and I was the innocent bystander like Gwen, I'd be confused too. Wait... now I'm confused.

She clears her throat. "Ahem?"

Trent rolls his eyes. "What? Is it important? I'm busy."

I shoot him a death glare. "Trent, be nice to _Gwen_." His body stiffens. "And let me go."

He ignores my last request, or he doesn't hear it, because he seems to be in shock. "What?" He finally sputters out.

"Gwen. Over there." I say, jerking my head in her direction.

"Oh..." He says, nervously.

"Um..." She gets out.

I can't take it anymore. "POTATO!"

"What?" Gwen asks.

"It's the word she shouts when there's an awkward pause, because either the awkward-pauser walks away or it starts a conversation." Trent answers for me, and I nod my approval.

"Okay?" Gwen asked.

"Oh Gwen?" I ask.

"Yeah?" She replies.

"While I'm away, can you make sure Trent doesn't do something stupid like slash his wrists?" I ask.

Trent glares at me. Gwen doesn't even catch the last part. "What do you mean, away?"

"Chris put her on the show." Trent grumbles.

"That's great!" Gwen exclaims.

"No, it is not great." Trent says. I could get used to him answering for me all the time. "Now she has to leave." He says, looking down sadly.

This look of realization and complete horror crosses her face. "Um... I've got something to do that isn't this." She says, fleeing.

Trent and I share a What The Fuck? look as she flees.

Geoff and Bridgette come around the corner, arguing about something, as always. "Seriously, Geoff! I don't know why you-" They both pause as they take us in.

Geoff gets this devious grin on his face. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Trent cocks his head. "What?" He says, looking down the hall.

I sigh. "You're still on top of me, idiot."

"Oh," he says, blushing, "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Geoff sneers. "That you two were keeping your relationship private?"

"Geoff." I say, warningly.

He continues. "Oh wait until the next Aftermath! Just imagine the looks on everyone's face when-"

Trent punches him in the jaw, sending him reeling backwards. My hero. (Note the sarcasm.)

Geoff clutches his jaw before saying, "Just wait." He stalks off in the direction he came from.

Bridgette sighs. "I'll talk some sense into him." She leaves, trailing after Geoff.

"We must be Chuck and Blair." Trent mutters, darkly. "We've just been blasted by Gossip Girl."

I just sigh. Life's bad when you're a Blair Waldorf and your best friend is a Chuck Bass. People keep trying to connect the dots, even if they don't exist.

* * *

Chapter Three coming up soon. I think it's time we paid Duncan and Gwen a little visit, hm?

By the way, what do you think ran into Courtney? I think it's obvious, but I'm writing this stuff.

I mentioned Playboy's Exception in this chapter. Really, you should check it out. It's really good.

Ha, I threw in my own fool-proof awkward-moment-defyer. Potato!

-Pursuit


	3. The Other Two

So yeah, I'm back. Can't you just feel the enthusiasm? Just kidding! I love writing this story.

P.S. Sorry in advance for the suckiness of Gwen and Duncan's POV's. Yeah, they're that bad.

**NOTE: These POV's are more interactive than Trent and Courtney's. Trent and Courtney tell it like some dramatic soap opera. Duncan and Gwen tell it like you're right there with them. Seriously, like within punching distance. You might want to back away, Duncan's PMS-ing again.**

Disclaimer: I don't own TDI/TDA. Wow, I think that was my least original disclaimer ever.

* * *

**//Duncan's POV//**

"Stop! You can't go in there! Get back here, Maggot!" I laugh as Chef's voice slowly gets farther and farther away.

What, you thought I was _actually_ going to listen to him? As if.

I'm still laughing over my shoulder as I collide into something. I just pick myself up and continue running. If life's taught me anything, it's not to stick around to check out the damage.

So I'm halfway around the corner when I hear this soft, "Hey!"

Well, now I sort of feel bad. I hit some_one_, not some_thing_. So I peek around the corner.

You _have_ got to be freakin' kidding me. What's Princess doing here?

She dusts herself off, frowning. "Jerk!" She screams after me, waving her fist. She stalks off muttering to herself.

Well now I'm intrigued. After all, if I follow her, I get to figure out where the losers live.

What do you mean I'm following her because I love her? Yeah right. Chick's the one who's attracted to me, dude. Shut up! I'm not in denial!

So I'm following her -shut up, it's not as bad as it sounds- and she starts leading me to a nicer part of the set. If it weren't for the fact that there's props thrown everywhere, I seriously would think we were back at Playa Des Losers. I seriously pause and think how good it would feel to tag some of this.

I continue after Courtney. I can set my priorities straight once in a while. She continues on until we're at some housing complex, I guess, I have no words to describe it other than it feels like we're in a hotel right now. She lifts up her hand like she's going to knock on the door then mutters something that sounds like, "It's my freaking room, not his.", and barges in.

Jeez, Court. Didn't your mother teach you any manners? Shut up. Okay, you may not have said anything, but you were so going to.

I hear her talking all the way through the door. Courtney was probably the easiest person to eavesdrop on on the island, since she was also the loudest. Well that's great, now I'm only going to hear half of the conversation.

I consider leaving when another voice comes from behind the door. Lucky for me Trent was the second-easiest to eavesdrop on.

Wait... since when are Courtney and Trent friends? No, I AM NOT JEALOUS! Just thought I'd put that out there.

I miss most of their conversation, but manage to catch Courtney say my name. Chick still digs me! In your face Trent! For the record, that is not jealous behaviour.

Then I miss a whole other chunk of their conversation. What? I was busy cheering. Then Courtney says, "I'm back on the show."

I'm sad to admit I have this whole cheesy movie moment where everything literally stops. Well, actually it doesn't, because I can still hear Trent whining over losing his best friend and how he'll slash his wrists and yada yada yada. I seriously lost the little respect I had for him when he threw the challenges for Gwen. Let me get this straight. I'm definitely not Team Gwen or anything, but when a guy completely lets a girl take over his life like that-

Wait...is Courtney..._crying_? I seriously consider going in there before I realise I can't blow my cover. Courtney will either take it one of two ways A) she'll scream at me and kick me in the crotch or B) she'll be all romantic drama queen and gush about how sweet I am. Since I'm not fond of either option (been there, _definitely_ done that) I slowly back away down the hall. Let Trent deal with Damaged Courtney. Even though it should be me... I'm not jealous!

* * *

**((Gwen))**

"I have to hide the knives!" I hear echoing down the hallway.

Oh god, did they let Izzy loose again?

Then the next thing I know I'm knocked to the ground. Yes, I'm having a wonderful evening, thanks for asking.

"Sorry!" They exclaim, as they pull me up.

"It's okay." I say, regaining my balance.

"Oh." She says. "It's you."

I roll my eyes. "Why do you hate me Courtney?"

She pauses. "Um, let's see... you were really rude to Trent?"

I sigh. "I told you, we're just friends!" Then my brain kicks in. "Wait, what?" Well, this is awkward.

Trent sails into Courtney just as she's going to tell me off/laugh in my face. Seriously, you can never tell with her.

So then they start tickling each other and he's all like, "Say it!" and she's like, "Fine! Your Chuck Bass." and they continue the Gossip Girl analogy that is their life.

Oh my god. I have to stop rooming with Izzy.

So back to Courtney and Trent. Now it doesn't bug me when she calls him sexy and it doesn't bug me that he whispers god knows what in her ear. It does bug me, however, that he's now onto top of her like they're...

Wait, are they... together? No, they can't be! Courtney thinks he's a total cliche with bad hair and amateur singing. (It's better not to ask me how I know this. It involves a very long story that also involved expired mayonnaise, toothpaste and the garbage disposal.)

I clear my throat, because I seriously need an explanation, now preferably. "Ahem!"

Trent rolls his eyes saying, "What? Is it important? I'm busy." Wow, that actually stung a bit.

She glares at him and says, "Trent, be nice to _Gwen_." She frowns. "And let me go!"

He ignores her. "What?" He says. She sighs, still trapped under him.

"Gwen." She says. "Over there." She finishes, jerking her head in my direction. I hate it when people do that. It makes me feel insignificant. You understand? Cool, so it's not just me.

"Oh..." He says, awkwardly.

"Um..." I say, awkwardly. Well, aren't we just an awkward pair? You know, you didn't have to answer, that was a rhetorical question. Rhe-tor-i-cal. Look it up!

"POTATO!" Courtney shouts, giving me further reason to believe she's secretly Izzy in disguise.

"What?" I ask, oh-so-cleverly.

"It's the word she shouts when there's an awkward pause, because either the awkward-pauser walks away or it starts a conversation." Trent answers for her, and she nods. It almost makes me laugh how they state it so matter-of-factly.

"Okay?" I say, although it comes out like a question.

"Oh Gwen?" Courtney speaks up.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"While I'm away, can you make sure Trent doesn't do something stupid like slash his wrists?" She asks.

Okay, where's Ashton? This _has_ to be a prank.

Wait. "What do you mean, away?"

"Chris put her on the show." Trent grumbles.

"That's great!" I exclaim. Finally, some normality!

"No, it is not great. Now she has to leave." He says, and he looks absolutely heartbroken.

Suddenly it all makes sense. They are together! Pssh, not that I care or anything.

Then I realise I do care. Duncan's one of my closest friends and his girlfriend's cheating on him. I have to get out of there. "Um...I've got to do something that isn't this." I say, stumbling around the corner.

I run into Geoff and Bridgette. Great! More people that hate my guts!

Geoff scoffs as I rush past him. "Rude, much?"

I seriously have to puke now. Why did everything have to go and change?

Once again, rhetorical. Hopefully by now you've looked it up.

* * *

**//Duncan's POV//**

I get back to the set to find Chef and Chris waiting for me. Busted.

"What do you know?" Chris says, bluntly.

"Courtney's back on the show?" I choke out.

Chris and Chef look at each other. Chris sighs. "Not until much later." He says. "Don't worry, you'll know when."

Great. Like a head's up will help.

"I didn't know Trent and Courtney were friends." I say, trying to distract them.

Chris shares a toothy grin with Chef. "Oh, they're _very_ good friends."

I raise my eyebrows. Whatever, I'm done trying to decipher Chris.

I make a bolt for the exit.

What, you thought I was going to hang around for my punishment? Whoever you are, you don't know me very well.

* * *

Like I said, horrible.

Looks like Duncan's on cloud 9 because Courtney still loves him.

Oh, and in case you haven't figured it out, he's _totally_ not jealous.

-Pursuit


	4. Sorry!

I'm sorry to say this isn't a new chapter. It's me explaining that I'll be gone for the next week so updating is probably not going to happen.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to full-on apologise to Freehugs41 (who's probably not even reading this) for freaking out at them.

Let me be the first to admit I was being a total asshole. I was having a horrible day and took that out on you. I'm so sorry. It took baking and America's Next Top Model to realise my stress doesn't mean I needed to hurt you. I'm sorry, and if I could take it back, I would.

So since you're apparently not supposed to leave just author's note, I included some trivia.

-Pursuit

Please don't review this, as it'll be deleted when I get back.

* * *

Trivia- Total Drama Island/Action

**The Name Game**

1) More characters have a first name that starts with C than any other letter.

2) Harold is the only contestant to reveal his whole name.  
3) Most of the contestants have a "Letter Match" when it comes to names. Courtney and Cody start with C, Tyler and Trent with T, Gwen and Geoff with G and so on.

4) All three of Izzy's alter egos begin with the letter E; E-scope, Explosivo and Esquire.

5) In the French versions, only six contestants keep their original names; Ezekiel, Eva, LeShawna, Justin, D.J. and Harold.

**Places, People!**

1) Gwen was the runner-up in North America, but in Romania/Norway/Poland she was the winner. In France she remained second place.

2) Geoff and Bridgette are the only two campers to get voted off at the same time, and place in the same rank, out of both seasons.

3) While Geoff and Bridgette both place last in TDA, many people will argue that Geoff is last, just because Geoff stepped in the limo first.

4) Many campers have multiple placements, mainly due to many campers coming back in the seasons.

5) Courtney automatically places higher than some of the people who were on TDA, just because she joined late in the season.

**Random, Category-less Facts!**

1) Eva is the only camper to not smile in the group photo.

2) Gwen wins nearly all the individual challenges in season one.

3) Justin becomes the main antagonist in season two. Pretty good for a guy who barely even spoke in the first season!

4) Izzy has never walked the Dock of Shame, and appears to be the one of the few girls who are not distracted by Justin's looks.

5) Although Chris says, "And you may not come back... ever!" Eva, Izzy and Katie all come back, although Katie just to greet Sadie on the Boat of Losers.

**Say What?**

1) After Owen jumps, we see Trent washed up on the beach behind the overturned boat but when he asks Owen what's wrong, Trent is on the boat, which is still in the water.

2) Harold tampers with the voting system by switching the ballots to get Courtney out. This doesn't make much sense, as in all the other episodes the campers seem to vote by saying so in their confessional.

3) When Izzy scares the Gophers in her bear costume, she has full control over the bears facial expressions, which makes no sense at all.

4) When the Killer Bass decide they need to wake up Duncan, Courtney tells Harold that aside from Trent, he is the only one they can afford to lose, however, Trent is not on the Killer Bass, Tyler is. (I like this one personally... anyone wonder why?)

5) In Season One, Episode 6, when the Killer Bass pitch their tent, the Screaming Gophers logo flips onto the screen.

**Feature-istic**

1) Although all the campers are shown with only having four fingers, Trent's shirt shows a five-fingered hand print.

2) In some cases it seems perfectly normal for only the speaker to be expressing facial movement. People in the background's faces are usually frozen, occasionally blinking.

3) Heather seems to be the only Asian in the whole competition. Also, it is undetermined what race Courtney is, and really hard to tell.

4) Geoff is shown to have a six-pack. Sick, bro!

5) Duncan appears to have a uni brow in all of season one, but in TDDDDI it is discovered he has two separate brows.

**The Home of The Brave (and Censored)**

1) The Cartoon Network censored out the word "crap" many times, however, there are two episodes where it is left in.

2) Want to tell if you're watching the American or Canadian version of "If You Can't Take The Heat"? It may be hard considering this episode does not swear at all, but it's easy if you know the secret. If Duncan replaces the word 'gitch' with 'drawers' congrats, it's the U.S. of A. version.

3) The Canadian version of the show can at least boast it's more spiritual. Cartoon Network censored out Lindsay's, "Communal bathrooms? But I'm not Catholic!" line.

4) When Owen's burping the alphabet for the talent competition, the last letter becomes "Zee" or "Zed", depending on the country that you're watching it in.

5) In America, the shows maintains a PG rating. In Canada, it maintains a G one. Ah, just blame it on our lack of censorship funding.

**Those Crazy French Fries**

1) In the French/Quebecois version, TDA is said to be filmed in Montreal. However, the CN tower is still clearly showing in the background.

2) Instead of the Killer Bass and Screaming Gophers, it's the "Carp of Hell" and "The Smart Dogs", respectively.

3) On the French Wikipedia page for TDI, the person who wrote Heather/Marilou's profile really did not like her.

4) Because of the way the French word their sentences, the Google translate button does not do the TDI Wikipedia page justice, making it hard to understand.

5) There are major differences in Francais and Quebecois french (I can only understand latter, and even then, barely) so the two versions required separate casts for each.


	5. Back

Hey everybody!

First of all I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry! This didn't get posted Monday because my family had guests that stayed longer than expected.

Second of all... and I'm sure you're all tired of this... but with all due respect, Courtney _does _swear. It's in her audition tape. And, really, who says she doesn't just act goody-goody for the cameras?

* * *

**+Trent-**

I lay down on Courtney's bed. "So you're really going back?"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm pretty sure." She said, as flung clothes into a suitcase.

"It's just weird though," I said, "because when you actually wanted on, Chris told you to give up."

"That was before he could exploit the drama with Gwen, Duncan and I." She said, flinging the clothes in harder.

"Oh." I said.

"Yeah. Oh."

I roll my eyes. "It's not that bad is it? You get to see Duncan again."

"Major plus." She mutters sarcastically.

"Why are you so mad at Duncan?" I ask.

She sighs. "I'm not, it's just that- I don't know, isn't he mad at me?"

"Um, why would he be?"

"That's the part I don't know." She said, finishing up her packing. "Done."

I stand up. "Time to get down to the set." I said, yawning. "Why did you have to leave at 5:30 again?"

"Chris doesn't want me to just _join _a team." She said. "I have to play some sort of role in the challenge first."

I nod as we walk toward the set of the Aftermath, where Chris is supposed to pick up Courtney. "So, good-bye, I guess?"

She shrugs. "That depends how long I stay in the show." She says, eyes gleaming.

I sigh. "What are you planning now?"

"Nothing." She replies too quickly, causing me to glare questioningly at her. "Fine. I've decided not to try, I'm going to automatically get everyone to hate me, and lose as quicly as possible."

I sigh again, rolling my eyes. "There's one flaw in your plan." She glances at me curiosly. "Duncan would never hate you."

"He's already mad at me." She says.

"There's a difference between being _mad_ at someone and _hating_ them." I say, groaning.

She stares at me. "Are _you_ mad at Gwen, or do you hate her?"

I shake my head. "I definitely don't hate her, I don't think I can, but I'm more than just mad at her."

"You want my advice?" She says.

"Not really." I say, groaning.

She ignores me. "Talk to her. Like really talk about everything that happened on TDI and TDA. Maybe you won't be so mad at her once you really hear her out."

"I'll get right on that." I say, sarcastically, and she glares at me.

"Courtney?" Chris calls out, from the other side of set.

"Gotta go!" She says. "Goodbye?"

I nod. "Goodbye." I say, hugging her. "Remember, try."

She groans. "Fine."

"Courtney?" Chris calls out again.

"See ya." She says. "Remember, Gwen." She calls out as she walks away.

I chuckle. "Fine."

**-Courtney+**

"Chris?" I call out, as I get close to his voice.

"There you are!" He exclaims. "I thought you might have hopped the border or something."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" I reply, sarcastically.

He glares, slightly. "Time for your pep talk."

"What?"

He rolls his eyes. "There's a certain way you need to act if we're going to pull this off. First of all, you need to be your old competitive self. Second,"

"There's more?" I ask.

He continues. "Second, I need you to play a part in the challenge. You'll be the bank teller..." He begins, telling me everything I need to know to play my part in the challenge.

"That everything?"

"Not quite." He says. "Last of all, I want you to _not_ talk to Duncan in between challenges."

"And why is that?" I ask, confused.

He grins. "This way I'm practically _forcing_ Duncan to talk to you when the cameras are rolling. You know, the drama."

"The drama. I get it." I say, "But what if I really need to talk to him? I can't help it if he's on my team."

He chuckles. "There's a very high chance you won't be."

I roll my eyes. "So basically I'm not even really a competitor, I'm just a pawn?"

"Exactly!" He says. "Well, we're here."

I stare at the bank set and sigh. "Welcome back to the game." I mutter to myself, pulling on my wig. "It's going to be _fun_."

**+Trent-**

"Hello?" I say, answering my cell phone.

"Trent?"

"Courtney?" I ask, incredulously. "Why are you calling me?"

"In exchange for all these favours I'm doing for Chris, I asked for my own favour. I have phone access to everyone back one set." She says.

"I saw the challenge." I say.

She pauses. "Really? That soon?"

"Yeah," I say. "Chris made a big deal out of getting it to us early."

"Great." She says sarcastically.

"It wasn't that bad actually. You had pretty much everyone fooled into thinking you wanted to be there." I say.

"That's great." She says. "How ridiculous was that challenge?"

I grin. "Pretty bad. I can't believe you voted Owen off! Why not Justin?"

She sighs. "I don't know really... I just pressed the first name that came up on the voting device." She pauses. "Besides Owen's probably glad to see Esquire again."

"Who?"

"Izzy." She replies.

"Oh." I say. I can never keep up with Izzy's name changes. "That was a pretty weird stunt where Chris kept you in the game."

"Well, obviously he's not fooling anyone back on set, "she replied, "because they all know I dropped charges, but it fooled my team." She pauses. "I didn't even know Chris was going to pull that."

"You didn't?" I ask.

"No." She says. "Gotta go, someone's coming."

"Bye."

"Bye. Talk to Gwen!"

"Fine."

She laughs as she hangs up.

* * *

So there is the end of that chapter. What did you think? Maybe next chapter I'll have Trent talk to Gwen. Who knows? Courtney might have to talk to Duncan, too.

-Pursuit


	6. Into the Twilight

**Izzy's POV**

"Since the author is tired of trying to create witty messages at the beginning of the story, she enlisted me to relay the information to you." I paused, staring at the computer screen. "So basically she's trying to scam you into reading this by thinking it's an actual POV! Yay? Oh come on, give her points for creativity!"

The computer screen blinked on, telling me to get on with it.

"Yeah. Pursuit owns nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, seeing as she ate that for lunch. And fries. And a soda. And ketchup. And salad dressing." I say.

The computer screen flashed again. _Ooh, shiny!_

I started again. "Oh yeah! And she wanted me to tell you that-"

The door flung open. "Izzy! They want us on set!" Noah called out.

"Just a minute!" I called out. "That's just Noah," I whisper to you guys, "he's super grumpy like _all_ the time, but don't let that bring you down! Just do what I do and try to imagine him smiling."

"Izzy," Noah started, "who are you talking to?"

"Oh you know," I wave him off, "the voice's inside my head." I lean in again. "Shoot. Our covers been blown!"

"Izzy!"

"In a minute!" He takes the hint and leaves. "Pursuit wanted me to tell you that... wait, what was it?" I pause. "Um... your computer will self-destruct in ten seconds! Yeah, that's it!" I pause. "Well did it? What do you mean it didn't? Oh well, I guess that's for the best. Bye everybody!"

...

She paused and looked at the camera, winking. She pulled out a _To Do List_. "Break the fourth wall, _check_."

**Note: This takes place after One Million Bucks B.C. and continues in a semi- AU manner, where the future of TDA as we know it is still free to be written.**

**-Courtney's POV+**

I whip around at the sound of crunching gravel. D-Duncan? He looks horrible, this is the first time I've seen him this close. His eyes are rimmed with black, his skin is paler, and his Mohawk's limp, like he couldn't put in the effort to gel it.

"Courtney?" He asks, confused. He didn't expect me to be here.

I go to say something, but it comes out all strangled. I can't talk to him. Chris could be watching.

"For God's sake. What the hell did I do?" He asks, sighing. He thinks this is his fault.

I bite my lip. I hear a faint beep, and it hits me. I pull out my phone.

"Oh, so now you're ignoring me?" He groans. "Can't texting wait?"

I glare and shove the phone in his face. _You didn't do anything. Chris banned me from talking to you._

He frowns. "Oh." He pauses. "Why?"

_Something about there being not enough dramatic tension on the show._ I type. _At least, not enough for Chris._

"So that's why you've been avoiding me?" He asks, incredulously. "I thought it was because of Trent."

_What?_

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Chris said something about you two being _really _good friends, and after a while I assumed..."

_Remind me to kill Chris later. _I groaned. _There's nothing going on between Trent and I._

"Well, yeah, I thought that too." He said. "Cause face it, Trent's only half the amount of hot I am, but you guys seemed really close when I saw you."

_Egotistical much? _I paused. _Wait... when did you see Trent and I?_

He groans. "You know, this conversation could probably go ten times faster if you typed like a regular person."

I glared at him. _Get on with it!_

"I was on set for some reason, like running away from Chef for example, and I kinda sorta ran into you." He winced. "That really hurt."

_So you're the jerk that ran into me without apologizing! And speak for yourself, but you're like 180 pounds, that hurt._

"Yeah, but you're all skinny and bony and junk." Duncan said. "Anyways, I followed you back to where you guys stay, partly because I was curious and partly because..." He paused, "never mind. And you and Trent were all comforting, loving and wholesome it made me feel like I was watching _The Brady Bunch_ and _The Partridge Family_ being mixed at warp speed in a blender."

_Oh. You... followed me?_

He scratched his arm. "Uh, yeah. Just wanted to know what it was like on the other side." He winced. "So... happy to be back?"

_You've got to be kidding me._

"I thought you wanted to be back, though?" He asked.

_Why would you think that?_

"Chris lets us watch partial bits of the Aftermaths. Nothing that would give anything away but... I saw you a lot. That was comforting." He sighed. "Just so you know, nothing happened between me and Gwen."

I sighed. _I believe you. No one's that stupid. Besides, the 'Anvil of Truth' didn't fall down when Gwen said it was false. I realized that later._

He nodded. "Thanks. So you don't want to be back?"

_Not really. My plan was to get voted off quickly. Chris threw me for a loop, though, when he made me invincible. It was a good plan too, since everybody already hates me._

"Courtney," he sighed, "I don't hate you."

**+Trent's POV-**

I sighed, and knocked on the door. "Damn you, Courtney." I muttered under my breath.

"Trent?" Gwen asked, holding the door open.

"Uh, hi Gwen. Can I come in?" I asked, gesturing inside.

She nodded. "Uh, yeah, sure I guess. Come in."

I walked in, noticing the personal touches Gwen had made to the room. There were music posters pasted all over the room, everything from Black Sabbath to The Beatles. The lights were dimmer, like someone removed one of the light bulbs. There were crumpled up sketches that had missed the trash can.

"You like it?" She asked, gesturing around.

I smirked. "It's... very you. It just screams Gwen." Yeah, and it sort of hurt.

She smiled an actual smile. "Thanks. That was exactly what I was going for." She sat down on her bed and patted the spot beside her. "I don't bite."

"No, only magical Cullens do that." I said, rolling my eyes.

She smirked. "What was that?"

I sighed. "Courtney made me watch Twilight with her. I don't like to talk about it." I said, sitting down.

"Oh. How are things working out for you two?" She asks.

I shrug. "Good, I guess. Courtney going back complicated things a little."

She chuckles.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," she says, swirling her hand over the covers, "it's just that... out of all the campers I figured you two the most unlikely to date."

"What?" I choke. "Where'd you get that from?"

She frowns. "Sorry, it's just that face it, you two are incredibly similar so I thought it wouldn't work out."

I roll my eyes. "No, where did you get the part where we were dating?"

"You're not?" She asks, eyes widening. "But you guys are just so close and-"

"A guy and a girl can be friends without dating, you know." I snapped.

She sighed. "I know, I just assumed."

"Well you know what they say," I grinned, "when you assume you make an ass out of you and me." She giggled. "Really, you've never heard that one before?"

She chuckled. "No. I'll have to use that someday."

"Well, since everybody our age already knows it, at least the ones who haven't been living under a rock," I tease, and she swats me, "you can only use it on the young and impressionable... or Ezekiel."

It suddenly strikes me how _normal _this is. Like we've just fallen right back into place. "Trent... why did you come to see me?" She asks, shattering the illusion.

I frown. "Before Courtney left, she wanted me to talk to you. She was kind of pissed about how I treated you."

"It's okay. Really." Gwen says. "I didn't really treat you that well either."

"Yeah, but you had a reason. I was acting like a stalker, you had to let me go. I just lashed out for no reason." I said.

She smirks. "Yeah. It's that crazy Reality Show Fever, that cause normally sane people to act like nutcases."

I laugh. "Yeah. That explains it." I frown. "Well, and jealousy. I was worried about how close you and Duncan were."

"Pssh. As if." Gwen says. "Even if I did have a thing for Duncan, he would've stayed faithful to Courtney. Did you see the last Aftermath? She's his everything."

I smile. "Want to know something unexpected about Courtney?"

"What?" She asks, almost warily.

"Even though she seems like the happily ever after type of person," I begin, "she's a Team Jacob fan."

"No!" Gwen laughs, eyes sparkling. "Really?"

I nod. "It's true. She hates the perfectness of Bella and Edward. Thinks it's too unreal, you know? She likes the raw aspect of Jacob and Bella together. She likes how it shouldn't work, but it does somehow."

Gwen nods. "That's what I liked about us." She whispers, blushing. "We shouldn't work together, but we did."

"Yeah," I smile, "I liked that too."

**-Courtney+**

"You don't hate me?" I ask, forgetting to type.

He shrugs. "I couldn't hate you."

"Really?" I ask. "After everything that's happened on this stupid show, you still don't hate me?"

He shakes his head and chuckles. "Knew it would be a killer if I got on your bad side."

I punch him in the arm. "Way to ruin it, Duncan."

"Hey, that's what I'm good at." He mumbles. "Ruining things."

I roll my eyes. "That's not true."

"Seriously?" He asks. "Tell me, would Gwen and Trent be broken up right now if I wasn't so close to Gwen? If I didn't drive Trent bat shit crazy?"

"They would have broken up about something else." I argue. "It's them. They fall apart and they come back together. That's just how they work."

He sighs. "Is that how we work?"

"What?"

"We always fall apart." He says. "It's always one thing after another with us, isn't it?"

I roll my eyes. "Did you forget to take your depression meds, or something?"

He frowns. "Depression is serious, maybe even genetic. My mom was one." He sighs. "Anyways, back to us. When is it going to end?"

"When is what going to end?" I ask.

"This fighting." He says, gesturing between us. "I don't want us to be married only to get divorced because you like that gross Raisin Bran crap and I like Lucky Charms. It's not healthy."

"Married?" I ask. "You've seen us _married_?"

He tenses. "No! I just-" He sighs. "I just wonder sometimes if we'd ever make it, after this stupid show ends and we can just run away from Chris and, you know, everyone. I wonder if we could be normal."

I smirk. "I don't think we could, and think that's what makes us, well, _us_."

"But is there even an us?" He asks. "I mean, would we have worked if we weren't forced together?"

"No, we wouldn't have." I say. "We wouldn't have even met. You'd be in juvie and I'd be running for student council or something."

He sighs. "You know what the saddest part is?"

"What?" I ask.

"I _need _you." He says. "The whole time were separated I saw you every time I closed my eyes. I felt like that Edward Cullen stalker-guy. I _felt_ worse than Trent _looked. _I missed you, and now that you're here I can't do anything but yell at you!"

I frowned. "And I can't do anything but yell back. What if this is how we end up? Married and fighting all day?"

He smirks. "Are you saying you would marry me?"

I blush, "Totally irrelevant at this point."

"Courtney," he says, "would you marry me?"

"Yes," I say, biting my lips. "Yes, I think that I would."

"Why?" He asks, laughing.

I grab his arm. "I need you too. I missed you the whole time, and the Gwen thing almost killed me and-"

"I love you." He muttered, pulling me into a hug. "And I don't care if we fight all the time, I miss you when you're gone."

I laugh. "You do realize this sounds suspiciously close to a proposal, right?"

He sighs, and slowly detaches himself from me. He looks at me and murmurs, "Courtney, will you marry me?"

I freeze. He starts laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face!" He says, wiping away a couple of tears.

"This isn't funny, idiot!" I hiss, punching him.

He pulls me back into a hug. "Sure I'm an idiot. I'm also rude, cocky, ignorant, perverted, cruel, neanderthal-ish, bad ass, and juvenile. So that kinda makes you an idiot for putting up with it."

"Yeah, I guess it does." I say, burying myelf in his shirt.

"Courtney?" he asks.

"Yeah?" I mumble.

He pauses. "You do realize there's a very good chance that I'll ask you to marry me again sometime, right?"

"Yeah." I mumble. "I'll be ready."

He hugs me a little tighter. "Me too."

* * *

You know what scared the hell out of me the other day? I was sitting in class like a good little social studies student (Pssh, as if) and this guy randomly blurts out POTATO. I almost had a panic attack. I'm like, "That's my random word! Has he read this? Ohmigawd! What if he can read minds? Does he know I write fanfics? Ohmigod." Twenty minutes later. "Oh calm down, it was probably some stupid Family Guy joke."

Back to the story:

Wow, that was pretty angsty. But I tried to keep the characters in, well, character, so that's gotta count for something.

Happy ending! Squeal! Well, at least on Duncan and Courtney's part... but don't worry, there's one more chapter left. (Hopefully it will take me less than forever and a blue moon to update it though.)

-Pursuit,

Who was always a sucker for a happy-ish ending.


	7. Last Chapter, That's Spectacular

What's cracking, scramblers?

Last chapter dance! Cause it's over. This story is done like brisket.

It's been really fun writing this. Your reviews have kind and helpful, and helped me become a better writer of comedy and drama at the same time. So the last chapter is dedicated to you, the reader, to whom I owe everything.

Also, since I feel this should go out with a bang well, I may have gotten a certain celebrity to be in here...

Disclaimer: Isclaimed- day.

Oh, and just wondering, has anybody since actually flung underwear out their windows? ;)

**Note: That Courtney's POV is one day behind Trent's, until the very end.**

* * *

**+Trent's POV-**

I wasn't sure why it still felt like I was missing something.

Make up with Gwen? Check.

Have Duncan and Courtney reconcile? From what I heard, check.

Get out of my room once in a while? Check.

Beat my record at underwear flinging? Check. (Hit Chef. Boy was he pissed.)

Communicate with the parental units? Check.

Catch up on the latest Gossip Girl? Check.

Find inner peace? Okay, not quite check. Gossip Girl can do that to a guy. Besides, when have musicians be known to be happy?

"Trent?" Gwen called from the other side of my door. "The interview's today, remember?"

Damn! How could I forget? Today was the day Chris media-whored us out to the magazines, papers, stations... anybody who wanted to know more about the show. It was supposed to be good for publicity. "I'll meet you in ten!" I called out. I started ripping things out of my closet.

"Uh, Trent?" Gwen called out again.

"Yeah?" I yelled back.

"I have your outfit for you. Natalia gave it to me. Chris wants us to wear them." She said.

I opened the door, and took the garment bag from her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She said. "Meet you at the front in ten."

I closed the door, quickly changing. I glanced at myself in the mirror. Some electric-blue plaid shirt, with a black t-shirt underneath. Dark jeans. Converse.

Screw it. I looked like Justin Bieber. I grabbed for my glasses. There. Bieber be damned. I ran down to the front where, as it turns out, everyone was waiting.

Gwen walked up to me, smirking. "Well, don't you look like a poser?"

"What about you?" I asked. For god's sake, she was wearing colour.

She grimaced. "Yeah. Nobody looks like themselves."

Noah walked up to us, wearing a dark t-shirt and even darker jeans that were too baggy. His hair was stuffed under a white knitted cap. "I don't know who they're trying to kid." He said. "None of us actually dresses like this."

I looked around some more. Izzy looked vulnerable without her trade-mark green. Cody looked like he fit in for once. Geoff and Bridgette looked equally uncomfortable in more formal clothes. And perhaps the strangest of all, Eva was wearing a dress.

Chef appeared out of nowhere, startling us. "Into the limo!" He called out. No one argued.

**-Courtney's POV+**

I knocked on the door frame quietly. "Chris?"

"Come in." He called, motioning me through the door. I sat down on one of the plush, leather chairs. "Well, what do you want?" He asked, wearily.

"I think," I began, "that I've fulfilled my purpose here. I mean, you got a proposal for your show, right? Isn't that like the ultimate win?"

Chris sighed. "Supposedly. But Courtney, we never aired your "proposal", as you call it."

"Why?" I asked, confusedly.

He sighed again. "Courtney, I've been in the business long enough to know that there are things just too _personal_ to air on television."

I frowned. "Okay, you look like Chris, and you sound like Chris, but you can not be Chris." I said. "Seriously? I thought this was all about your own personal gain?"

"I'm doing you a _favour_." He stressed. "Do you want the whole world knowing this? People will hate you. Parents will say you planted ideas in their teenager's heads. Gossip magazines will tear you apart. Fans of the show will attack you."

"And why should I care?" I scoffed. "It's not like I know them. Why should I care what some strangers think about me?"

Chris stared at me coldly. "You shouldn't. That's true. But it's funny how the things that you shouldn't do, keep eating away at you. You would be, metaphorically, swimming in bleach. It's all fine until you realize you can't feel anything anymore."

"When did you get so deep?" I wondered.

He took it as rhetorical. "I can still get you off the show, if that's what you want." He paused. "But you'll have to do whatever I say, and when I say it. We have to make this believable."

"Thanks." I said, standing up. I started walking towards the door, but something was still gnawing at me. "Chris?"

"Yes?" He murmured.

I frowned. "Why are doing me a favour? I mean, seriously, you're not exactly the nicest guy."

"My wife told me to be nicer to other people. For some reason, it's been eating away at me." He paused. "It's the tenth anniversary."

I smiled. "Really? What are you planning on doing?"

"Same thing I do every year," he said, putting on his coat and hat, "get her some flowers."

"What kind?" I asked, ever the romantic.

He got up and met me at the door. "Daffodils. Six of them."

"Why six?" I asked.

"I gave her an extra daffodil for each anniversary. She died before I could give her the sixth." He nodded, and moved out the door. "Good night, Courtney. See you tomorrow."

I didn't mention it when he showed up the next day, more than a little hungover. He understood.

**+Trent's POV-**

We were... well, no one actually knew where we were, but from logical reasoning we got that it wasn't A: a challenge, B: life-threatening, C: about to blow up and D: one of Chris's zany schemes.

"Welcome," Chris said, greeting us, "to the 28th CanCon!" _(1)_

Sadie looked at him oddly. "Cancun? I think you're a little confused, buddy."

Chris sighed. "CanCon. _CanCon. _**CanCon!**"

"Whoa! Chris!" Izzy exclaimed. "No need to say it in so many different styles of font!" _(2)_

Chris cleared his throat. "Let me explain. What you see here is CanCon, a "display", of sort, of Canadian media. It ranges from reality TV," he gestured towards us, "to art, and music." He said, gesturing at... Justin Bieber?!? _(3)_

"Hey." He nodded. "Like your show."

"Thanks." Chris said, cheekily. "I like... whatever it is you... sing."

Justin rolled his eyes and grinned back, cockily. "Thanks." He started to leave, but not before nodding to me. "Like the shirt, bro."

I glared at his back. "_Bieber_."

Gwen snorted. "Someone got a little crush? Is he going to make you One Less Lonely Girl?"

"Laugh away, Gwen." I said, glaring after the retreating popstar. "I'll have my revenge, Captain Hammer!" I said, shaking my fist. The others stared at me oddly. Huh, Courtney would've got that. _(4)_

"Anyways," Chris continued, looking at me worriedly, "CanCon is basically ComicCon so-"

"I love ComicCon!" Geoff exclaimed.

Gwen snorted. "Dude, I would have expected that from Cody, but you? Really?"

"Dude, Kaley Cuoco is _hot_." Geoff said.

We glanced at Bridgette. "What?" She asked, looking back at us. "Kaley Cuoco is tall, thin and blond, like me. Am I supposed to feel threatened?"

"So this is our table!" Chris said, loudly redirecting us. "We sit here!"

"We're not deaf!" Noah called back, cheekily.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Just sit where your name tags are." He then proceeded to say something we couldn't understand.

"What?" Geoff asked.

"Fags are deaf!" Chris yelled, giddily sitting in his seat. _(5)_

Izzy grinned. "I think he meant you, Noah!" She exclaimed, then proceeding to sing, off-key, "_He kissed a boy and he liked it! The taste of- _Cody, what flavour of chap-stick do you wear?"

Cody rolled his eyes, glaring at the rest of us for laughing, "Yeah, yeah. Sit down and _Shut Up_!"

I ended up sitting in between Noah and Eva, which was probably good for me. (Noah was a friend and Eva... was tolerable.)

"Well, let's get this show on the road!" Chris said to us, before facing the audience. "Welcome, audience, to the _Total... Drama... Action! _panel of the 28th CanCon!"

The audience, who was fairly large, the room was packed, cheered. "Usually," Chris began, "this where we would segue into the plot of our story and tell you more about our actors." He chuckled. "Well, ladies and gents, I assure you these are no actors! They don't get paid enough!"

"Tell me about it!" Eva called back, causing the audience to laugh. She sank lower into her seat, blushing. Huh, Eva has a weakness. Attention.

Chris winked back at her, causing Eva to blush more, and the audience to laugh even harder. "As well," he continued, "we don't have a plot! See, for those of you unfamiliar with our show, I have something called the "Best Job in the World", because whatever I say, they do. In short, I run a reality show."

We rolled our eyes and grumbled, almost comically. "So, with further ado, question away!" Chris said.

"I have a question for you, Chris." A girl said, standing up. "Where did you get the idea for TDI/TDA?"

Chris smiled. "Well, basically I ripped off Survivor." The audience gasped. "Kidding." Chris chuckled. "Actually, it's a little more thought out than that. See, I majored in Psychology in University, and couldn't help but realize just how hard it was to actually round up enough teens to study how they interact socially, cause they're always too busy talking on their damn cellphones!" The adult portion of the audience laughed. "So, I lured a bunch of unsuspecting kids onto to my show with the promise of money and, la voila! The biggest social experiment of all time!"

"So that's why you call me Test Subject #4!" Tyler mused out loud, setting the audience into laughter again.

Chris gasped. "I didn't say that! Don't believe him!" The audience just laughs.

An older lady, about my mom's age stood up. "I have a question for Chris. Why is it that Courtney seemed to hate Duncan two episodes ago, but now seems to like him again? Did I miss this happening, or was it not on the show?" I few other members of the audience nod in agreement, and a bunch of us on panel turn to look at Chris too. It's something we've been wondering for a while.

"I know what you mean," Chris says, "many people have asked me this question already. The answer is... I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you, it's in the contract that we're not allowed to reveal what happens between tapings without agreement."

We on panel know there is something he's not telling us, but we let it slide. This time a guy stands up. "This one's for Izzy. Is all that RCMP crap real, or that just exaggerated?"

"Yes and No." Izzy replies, biting her lip. "In actuality yes, I have been wanted for offences, but those had been pardoned long before I was chosen for the show. When the RCMP swooped in to "catch me", even I though they were coming for me. That turned out to be a joke from Chris, as a way of getting back at me for being so... kooky."

The guy nodded. "Respect." He said, bumping his fist to his chest before sitting down.

A reporter stood up next, and you could hear the audible gulp from each of us. "I couldn't help but notice that on the show, you all seem to be at each others throat's constantly!" The reporter says, and we chuckle a little. "However, today, you all seem to be great friends. Why is that?" _(6)_

"I'll take this one." Noah says, leaning up to his mike. "None of us on the show really hate each other." He glanced at Heather. "I'm pretty sure. But I think the reason that we seemed so mean to each other is that we really wanted to win. The competition and the stress and the money got to us. Look at me, I got kicked off fourth last year because I wasn't a team player. By watching the show you would never have guessed I'd made a couple of friends, but it's true. Iz is easily my best friend, and Eva, well we're Team E-scope, you know? Trent's also a friend, along with Cody." He paused. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we may be friends now, but before we working against each other, and we didn't realize the potential."

It's quiet for a while, in what I assume is shock, because that may be one of the most insightful things I've ever heard. The Izzy leans up to her mike, sniffling, "Aw! I love you too, Noah's Ark!"

The audience laughs as Noah cries out, "Izzy! I told you not to call me that!"

"And I told you to suck it, Noah-it-all!" Izzy shoots back, sticking her tongue out at him.

Noah rolls his eyes. "Yeah? Well, suck it, Wizard of Iz!"

Izzy pouts, "How could you Noah?"

"Aw, Iz..." Noah says, and by the way the audience is roaring, I can just tell that this is going to be the sound-byte they'll use for the promos.

When the audience dies down, a man stands up and inquires, "Is Chef's food really that bad?"

"Yes!" DJ says. "Trust us."

"Yes," Chef says, eyes twinkling, "but is that because I'm really a bad cook, or because I enjoy watching you suffer?"

The questions get thrown back and forth, and sddenly I'm being asked a question. "Uh, my question's for Trent." A girl says, standing up. "And don't think I'm gonna ask you about your love-life blah, blah, blah because people who ask those questions should drive a spork into their leg. I'm wondering, who's your best friend on the show?"

"Courtney." I say, without hesitation. "Definitely Courtney."

The girl raises an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

I shrug, and everybody looks at me, expecting some heartfelt speech. All I say is, "She's the Blair to my Chuck."

I can faintly hear the girl part of the audience cooing, I can partially hear Izzy go on about the hi-jinks Courtney and I cause, and I vaguely think that I may be screwed because they might take that as a sound-byte as well. I don't care. I've finally realized what I've been missing.

Courtney.

**-Courtney's POV+**

"I'm off the show." I say to Duncan, pulling him into the girl's trailer.

He raises an eyebrow. "Really? How do you know?"

"Chris told me from the beginning I wouldn't win. It wouldn't be fair." I say.

"And you're okay with this?" He asks.

I snort. "Are you kidding? I'm the one that asked to leave!"

"I don't blame you." Duncan says, as we watch something spontaneously combusts just outside the window.

"I'm going to miss you." I say.

Duncan grins. "No you won't."

"Why?" I ask.

He chuckles. "Really, Court? Think about why you wanted off the show."

"Uh, The challenges are insane?" I say.

He chuckles again. "Yes they are, but no, that's not why."

"The food sucks?" I try again.

Duncan smirks. "Close... actually, that's not close at all."

"Shouldn't I know why want to leave?" I fume.

"Courtney," Duncan says, "I know you better than you know yourself."

I groan. "Fine. Why do I want to leave?"

"You miss Trent."

"That's not why!" I exclaim.

"Oh, really?" Duncan says. "Remember Court, I know you better than you do."

"Fine. Maybe I do miss him." I say, sighing. "I'm still going to miss you though."

He rolls his eyes, but hugs me anyways. "I'll miss you too, Princess."

"Just so you know, you're going to win." I say. "I don't date losers."

Duncan chuckles next to me. "So I guess I don't have to worry about you and Trent, huh?"

"That's not nice Duncan!" I exclaim, hitting him on the back.

"I'm just kidding!" Duncan chuckles. "God! Take a joke!"

I roll my eyes. "Good. Now leave."

"Why?" He asks, leaning back so he can see me.

"Because this is the Girl's trailer, and Beth's heading this way."

He winces. "Shit."

"Language!" I scold.

"Hypocrite." He shoots back.

I frown. "I'm in recovery. Now shoo!"

He laughs, shaking his head. "Love you."

"Love you too." I say, as he walks out the door.

Beth walks in. "So, uh, gosh this is weird... but I'll miss you Courtney."

"You heard?" I exclaim.

"These trailers have remarkably thin walls." She says, adjusting her glasses.

I shake my head. "Chris is so cheap."

Beth shrugs, "Sure he's cheap and all, but where would we be without him?"

It's a scary thought. Where would be? Probably working as a counsellor at some summer camp.

A perfect life. At least, what I thought was perfect.

But what does perfect mean to me now?

**+Trent's POV-**

"Trent?" Cody says, knocking on my door.

I frown, putting away my guitar. "Yes?"

"You've got a delivery for you at the front desk." Cody says through the door.

"Can it wait?" I ask. "I'm in the middle of something."

Cody sighs. "No, you have to sign for it." I groan and head for the door. "Don't blame me." Cody says. "Blame FedEx."

I open the door. "Thanks, Cody. So, it's just at the front desk?"

"Yep." He says, nodding.

I head downstairs to the reception area. "Hey, Rhonda... Cody said there was a package for me?"

She shrugs. "Sorry, Trent. It's been as slow as molasses in February today." That little son of a bit-

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a package." Someone says beside me.

Rhonda frowns. "I'm sorry, there's nothing here." She turns back to her crossword. "My, that seems to be a popular question today."

"So, did someone tell you that you had something waiting for you too?" I ask.

She turns to look at me. "No, I knew I had something waiting for me." Courtney smiles. "I've missed you so much, Trent."

I gape for a couple of seconds before rushing her and tackling her to the ground. "I missed you too."

"And they're at it again." Gwen says, coming from behind us, smirking.

Courtney smiles at her. "Gwen, thanks for helping me with this."

"No problem." Gwen replies. "Now, you kids be safe."

As Gwen walks away, I'm trying to figure out if that was a double entendre or not. "So, you going to help me up?" Courtney asks.

"Oh, sorry." I say, and can't help but feel deja vu when I help her up.

She immediately hugs me. "Did you talk to Gwen?"

"Did you talk to Duncan?" I shoot back.

How is it that I can feel her roll her eyes against my chest? "Yes."

"Yes, I talked to Gwen." I say. "How was the show, everything?"

"Fine." She says. "I found out something about Chris, but I'll tell you later. It's not really important right now."

I smile. "I missed you, Blair."

"I suppose it's obligatory to say I missed you too, Chuck." Courtney says, smiling against me.

"Oh, come on. I know you missed me." I say.

She laughs. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Love you too, Court." I say, rolling my eyes.

She doesn't answer me back, at least, not directly, "So this is perfect." She murmurs.

I smile. "Can you believe that no one knew who Captain Hammer was?"

"Shut up. No way!" She says. "Did you tell them off?"

I shrug. "Nah. It's not my style."

And that last thing on my list? Find inner peace?

Check.

* * *

(1) Sorry folks, I made it up. Look for it in about 20 years.

(2) Yeah, Izzy broke the fourth wall again.

(3) Yes, that's right! Justin Bieber is our special guest star.

(4) Do you get it? ;)

(5) Don't be offended! It's one of my Dad's joke, and him and Chris have a similar sense of humor, so I thought, why not?

(6) If you didn't read Noah's speech and skipped over it, go back and read it now.

**By the way, as a special bonus (if you could call it that), anyone who asks for it in a _signed_ review will recieve a portion of a new Trent/Courtney piece I'm working on.**

Love and Deepest Respect,

-Pursuit


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